Team size: 13
Legal advisers: DLA Piper Mexico, Santamarina & Steta, Sai, MGPS, Ibarra del Paso y Gallegos, Ontier

Could you share an example of a time when you came up with an innovation that improved how your legal team works and did not come at a large expense?

To manage all the permits and licenses of our four manufacturing centres and 37 ice cream agencies in Mexico, we implemented a Service Desk Platform where users of these operations can find a risk matrix required by each location or state where our centres are located.

At the same time, it is an information repository, which contains a scanned copy of all licences and permits, and each document has a QR code, which tells you where the document is physically stored. This platform also sends reminders to the user when their permits or licences three months before they are due to expire, if the user does not renew it, an email is sent to their line managers.

Can you foresee any key developments to the way general counsel work over the next five years?

The general counsel (GC) should be open to systematising low-impact legal processes through artificial intelligence (AI), systems, and technology platforms, which will help free up the legal team’s time to focus on more strategic tasks. The GC must be well connected with peers in other companies or within industry associations, as to be aware of local or regional trends or new regulations that would impact the business. Finally, I believe that the GC must be prepared to manage the legal team and legal operations in any kind of emergency or pandemic, as we have learnt over the last three years.

What are some of the main trends impacting the industry sector you work in in Mexico?

New laws or regulations are being published on a regular basis and they must be implemented within a short period, and in some cases, they are lacking clarity. On the other hand, some regulatory authorities are becoming more restrictive and are making it more difficult to close legal issues. As in-house lawyers, we must innovate to find legal solutions within this challenging and changing legal environment.